Street preacher slapped with fine

Defiant with the belief he’s doing God’s work in Calgary streets, an embattled preacher defied city bylaws and delivered an amplified, open-air sermon without a permit last night.

City bylaw officers fined Artur Pawlowski, who runs the Street Church across from the Drop-In Centre, for using the park without a permit and for using amplification in a city park. The summonses are the latest in a series of fines handed to the preacher.

But bylaw boss Bill Bruce believes the city and Paw¬lowski may be nearing a solu¬tion to a conflict that’s seen both parties battle through the media and in the courts. "Everything turned out very positive;’ said Bruce. Pawlowski, who met with bylaw officers after last night’s service, agreed not to hold a sermon tomorrow and to meet with the city to try and reach a resolution.

Before last night’s sermon, Pawlowski charged the city and the Drop- In Centre were trying to keep him from deliv¬ering his message and said he had no choice but to stand on the park and preach to the homeless with or without the city’s permission. "This is a prejudice and an affront to the cross;’ he said. "We must go like sheep to the slaughter:’

Pawlowski said he’s being persecuted unfairly and that he’s never been charged with a noise violation.